Caravelle International Group (NASDAQ:HTCO) versus Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Financial Comparison

Caravelle International Group (NASDAQ:HTCO) and Acuity (NYSE:AYI) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, profitability and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Caravelle International Group has a beta of -0.46, suggesting that its share price is 146% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acuity has a beta of 1.42, suggesting that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Caravelle International Group and Acuity’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Caravelle International Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Acuity	9.37%	20.74%	12.20%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Caravelle International Group and Acuity, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Caravelle International Group	1	0	0	0	1.00
Acuity	0	4	5	0	2.56

Acuity has a consensus price target of $369.17, suggesting a potential upside of 30.65%. Given Acuity’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Acuity is more favorable than Caravelle International Group.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Caravelle International Group and Acuity”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Caravelle International Group	$214.42 million	0.32	-$21.46 million	N/A	N/A
Acuity	$4.35 billion	1.99	$396.60 million	$13.64	20.72

Acuity has higher revenue and earnings than Caravelle International Group.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.2% of Caravelle International Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.2% of Acuity shares are held by institutional investors. 8.4% of Caravelle International Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Acuity shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Acuity beats Caravelle International Group on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Caravelle International Group

Caravelle International Group, through its subsidiaries, provides ocean transportation services in Singapore and internationally. The company operates through Ocean Transportation and Heating Business segments. It provides international shipping services and carbon-neutral solutions for wood desiccation. Caravelle International Group also provides seaborne transportation services under the voyage contracts. The company provides vessel services on behalf of ship owners. Caravelle International Group is headquartered in Singapore.

About Acuity

Acuity Brands, Inc. provides lighting, lighting controls, building management system, location-aware applications in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls (ABL); and the Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG). The ABL segment provides commercial, architectural, and specialty lighting solutions, as well as lighting controls and components for various indoor and outdoor applications under the A-Light, Aculux, American Electric Lighting, Cyclone, Dark to Light, eldoLED, Eureka, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Holophane, Hydrel, Indy, IOTA, Juno, Lithonia Lighting, Luminaire LED, Luminis, Mark Architectural Lighting, nLight, OPTOTRONIC, Peerless, RELOCWiring Solutions, and Sensor Switch. This segment serves electrical distributors, retail home improvement centers, electric utilities, national accounts, original equipment manufacturers, digital retailers, lighting showrooms, and energy service companies. The ISG segment offers building management solutions, such as products for controlling heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, shades, refrigeration, and building access that deliver end-to-end optimization of those building systems; and building management software that enhances building system management and automates labor intensive tasks. This segment serves system integrators, as well as retail stores, airports, and enterprise campuses. The company offers its products and solutions under the Atrius, Distech Controls, and KE2 Therm Solutions brands. Acuity Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.